Seventy years ago, on January 12, 1943, the Hungarian army’s defensive positions by the Don River suffered the first large-scale Soviet assault, which was followed within a few days by further attacks. Lacking sufficient provisions and equipment, Hungarian troops were only able to resist Soviet tank charges in an organized fashion for a couple of days. Over the next two weeks, the Second Hungarian Army suffered grave losses: its formation collapsed, many units were surrounded and wiped out, while the remaining bulk of the army abandoned heavy artillery in an attempt to escape the encirclement.

By presenting contemporary documents, photographs taken at the front, contemporary Hungarian and Soviet newsreels, press reports, radio recordings, posters, leaflets, diaries and memoirs, the exhibition aims to present the history of the Second Hungarian Army from its consignment until April 1943, when what remained of the army was transported back home. Alongside the story of the army, the exhibition also aims to present the afterlife and memory of the Don defeat.

Lastly, we shall try to briefly summarize how presentation of the Don catastrophe has changed since the 1990 change of system, what new findings have been produced by research, as well as what sorts of debates surround the presentation of Hungarian military history and interpretations of Hungarian participation in World War II.